University Distinguished Professor
Professor, Department of Psychology
Director, CAP Lab
Professor, Department of Psychology
Director, CAP Lab
EMail
Office Hours
Fall 2025 --- no office hours
I am away on Research Leave during Fall 2025 and
will return to campus in January 2026 for Spring semester.
I am away on Research Leave during Fall 2025 and
will return to campus in January 2026 for Spring semester.
Office Address
333 Williams Hall
Office Phone
Accepting Students?
Not currently accepting students
Research Center/Lab
Link(s) To Publications
Curriculum Vitae
Short Bio
since 2021 --- University Distinguished Professor, Virginia Tech
2019-2025 --- College of Science Faculty Fellow, Virginia Tech
since 2010 --- Professor of Psychology, Virginia Tech
2001-2010 --- Associate Professor of Psychology, Virginia Tech
1996-2001 --- Assistant Professor of Psychology, Virginia Tech
1993-1996 --- Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of South Carolina
1992-1993 --- Research Associate, Child Development Lab, University of Maryland
2019-2025 --- College of Science Faculty Fellow, Virginia Tech
since 2010 --- Professor of Psychology, Virginia Tech
2001-2010 --- Associate Professor of Psychology, Virginia Tech
1996-2001 --- Assistant Professor of Psychology, Virginia Tech
1993-1996 --- Visiting Assistant Professor of Psychology, University of South Carolina
1992-1993 --- Research Associate, Child Development Lab, University of Maryland
Interests
Developmental changes in brain-behavior relations during infancy and childhood; developmental cognitive neuroscience and developmental psychophysiology (executive function, emotion regulation, EEG, ECG); individual differences in development; integration of cognition and emotion in early development.
Recent Courses Taught
- PSYC 6944 - Advanced Topics in Developmental Psychology ("Developmental Psychobiology of Early Executive Function")
- PSYC 5544 - Cognitive Development
- PSYC 4034 - Special Topics in Dev Psyc ("Child Cognitive and Social-Emotional Development")
Select Publications
- EDITED BOOK:
- Bell, M.A. (Ed.), (2024). Child development at the intersection of emotion and cognition (2nd ed). Washington, DC: American Psychological Association.
- RECENT JOURNAL PUBLICATIONS:
- 2025
- Bertrand, C., Hong, Y., Deater-Deckard, K., & Bell, M.A. (2025 advance on-line publication). Developmental patterns of mother-child similarity in executive function and EEG coherence. Journal of Family Psychology.
- Broomell, A.P.R., Andre, N., Patton, L.A., & Bell, M.A. (2025). Neural foundations of joint attention in infancy. Cognitive Development, 74, 101546.
- Bruce, M., Meza-Cervera, T., Ermanni, B., & Bell, M.A. (2025 advance on-line publication). One, two, three, eyes on me: Infant EEG power predicts toddler executive functioning through infant attention. Child Development.
- Carreno, C.A., Evans, M.E., Lockhart, B.K., Chinaka, O., Katz, B., Bell, M.A., & Howell, B.R. (2025). Optimizing infant neuroimaging methods to understand the neurodevelopmental impacts of early nutrition and feeding. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 71, 101481.
- Eng, C.M., Patton, L.A., & Bell, M.A. (2025). Infant attention and frontal EEG neuromarkers of childhood ADHD. Developmental Cognitive Neuroscience, 72, 101524.
- Liu, R., Smith, C.L., & Bell, M.A. (2025). Co-development and mutual influences of fearful temperament, task switching, and maternal intrusiveness in early childhood. Developmental Psychobiology, 67, e70031.
- Phillips, J.J., Savla, J., & Bell, M.A. (in press). Roads to regulation: Indirect paths from effortful control and RSA to emotion regulation across childhood. Developmental Psychology.
- Zhu, D., Lozada, F.T., Smith, C.L., Bell, M.A., & Dunsmore, J.C. (2025). Maternal emotion coaching and child emotion regulation: Within-interaction sequences in early childhood. Affective Science, 6, 214-223.
Degrees
- 1992 --- PhD, Human Development, University of Maryland
- 1983 --- MS, Child and Family Studies, University of Tennessee
- 1978 --- BS, Home Economics, Carson-Newman College